1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a door system, which allows contactless access control, and also contactless door operation. Instead of using a conventional key which needs to be inserted into a lock and turned, there are other types of doors or options for doors for which other unlocking methods are used. The electronic key in credit card format, as used in many hotels, is already known. But even here, the key needs to be carried along and may get lost. In addition, the doors have to be opened by hand after unlocking by pressing a door latch or turning a door knob, and the door has to then be pushed open, often against the force of a door driver. Many versions of doors that open and close automatically are known.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are door access control systems and automatic doors that can be operated without a key but with physical touch, for example using a fingerprint sensor, which can read and identify the individual minutiae, that is the ends and branches of the papillary lines of the human fingerprint when a fingertip is placed on a sensor, which is often installed in the wall next to the door or even in the door panel. Such a system is described, for example in WO 2012/022398. However, for hygienic reasons a solution is needed which completely eliminates physical touch both for access control and for operating the door, such that a person who passes through the door does not leave any traces on the surface of the door. Especially in hospitals and other buildings, where the hygiene requirements are high, such a solution would be very much welcome because doors are one of the main carriers of bacteria and viruses of all kinds at present. Every person who goes in and out, touches the door handle, which acts like a temporary storage and carrier for these micro-organisms. The automatically operated doors, where neither the door handle nor the door is touched, prevent such transmission of micro-organisms. They work using motion sensors. The door opens as soon as a person stands in front of it. But if access should be given only to specific people, then there is still no system that is really convincing.
What has been previously used mainly in high-security wings and strong rooms of banks, is the identification of persons using the so-called iris identification. This is a biometric method where a picture is taken of the iris using a special camera and whose characteristic features are evaluated and compared with the templates already stored in the computer. However, the iris-identification method has significant disadvantages: In case of unfavourable identification conditions of the eye, like for example, people who wear glasses or people of Asian origin having narrow eyelids, even those whose iris is already recorded, cannot be identified by the system. In addition, it takes some time for a retina scan to be completed. This is cumbersome and unnerving for the user because he/she should not move the eye for this duration and should not blink. The user feels the scan as a prick in the eye, which is perceived as uncomfortable and painful. Due to these and other disadvantages, many of these institutions are going back to an identification process using body contact.
In addition to the contactless iris identification, there are hand vein scanners, which can scan the veins of palm held at a distance of a few millimeters to few centimeters and compare it with the pattern recorded previously, so that a match can be determined, if it was the same hand. Such scanners are described, for example, in US 2012/0055763 or in WO 2012/041826. They are presently used for all kinds of access controls, even separately from a door, which is opened and closed again by hand after unlocking is triggered or is opened using a motor by pushing a button or switch by hand, that is, not contactless.